by Kerri Vasilakos
I felt the oceans rhythms and listened to the waves crash
against the shore like a heartbeat, you didn’t know my body
was part of the sand. I would hear your footsteps approaching and pray
that you’d walk all over me.
I was there for all your late-night solo walks, I heard
your prayers and whispered talks, you thought
you were alone but I was listening, supporting your legs while the wind
guided you, I’ve been here since before you were born. I’ve watched you grow
from a child into the man you’ve become
today, I am in love with you!
I know the lines of your face like the salt in my palms, searched
grains in the sand that matched the color your skin and slept in them.
I dreamt the taste of your body and the lock
of your amber eyes, felt their honey drip
down
into my belly.
And I’ve watched you gaze endlessly
at my beauty, watched you awestruck
staring into my eyes, these crystal blue sapphires, I’ve washed
your hands and tousled your tawny hair, kissed you countless
times. I’ve protected you fiercely and always watched you go
safely back to shore.
Like that time when you were nine, and you thought
you could make it out past the sandbar. You never understood
how you survived or why you stayed
so calm, but I sang
to you as you held your breath. Your eyes paralleled
mine, glinting sunlight in the turquoise waves,
you caught my breath in your lungs
as we propelled through the watery silence,
cocooned for the moment, from the outside world.
And when you were okay, I was never so happy another woman
pulled you into her arms as when your mother smothered
you with love, the same gold hair and smiling eyes, so grateful
for your return. And I was never
so jealous, surviving three girlfriends that never
seemed to like the ocean and you never understood
why the surf was so rough when you took them here, go figure.
I swore the ocean ran deep with my green blood, these
sapphires turned emeralds.
Yet here you are now, a grown man alone
in the midnight sand, and I get to spend tonight
with you again, like so many blissful nights before.
But then I always have to watch you
leave, your silhouette shrink smaller
into the distance, the cruel
fading sound of a car engine solidifying
your absence.
My wish for skin and bones is a physical ache
under the mocking moon and jostling waves.
Take my kisses on the wind, the salty
mist that floats on the breeze,
I will wait for your return my love,
-The Goddess of the Sea
Category: Featured, Poetry, SNHU Creative Writing, SNHU online creative writing, SNHU Student